Thank you, Madam Chair.
I would like to thank you, Minister, for taking the time to come and speak with us and answer our questions. I am happy to welcome you here today, as we are aware you have a very busy schedule. On behalf of this committee, I would like to thank you for all you're doing for women and girls in Canada.
I want to mention that in your speech you said, “If Canada is to continue to be one of the most prosperous nations in the world, women must be able to fully participate and contribute to job creation and fuelling economic growth”. Thank you for saying that, because I think it is so true.
As you mentioned in your remarks, yesterday was the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women and the first day of the 16 days of activism against gender violence in Canada.
Violence against women is a concern for this government and for all Canadians. It ruins lives, destroys families, and takes a heavy toll on the economy. On average, every five days, a woman in Canada is killed in a domestic homicide. Women are more likely than men to experience certain forms of violence. For example, they are 11 times more likely to be a victim of a sexual offence and three times more likely to be criminally harassed.
In 2009, Statistics Canada estimated the economic cost of spousal abuse at $4.8 billion annually. These figures are very concerning. That is why our government continues to take decisive action across departments to combat violence against women and girls. Some examples are the passing of the Safe Streets and Communities Act, launching the national action plan to combat human trafficking, the stiffer legislation for cyberbullying that was announced recently, and of course, our own call for proposals on cyber and sexual violence.
One thing I really like is we passed Bill S-2, a very important bill that gave women on reserves the same rights that we sitting here today have.
I certainly believe that in order to be successful in combatting all types of violence against women, we need to work together as a government to accomplish this goal.
Minister, could you please inform this committee what Status of Women Canada has done and is currently doing to address the issue of violence against women and girls?